Kevin Richardson (soccer player)

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Kevin Richardson
Personnel
Surname Kevin Richardson
birthday 4th December 1962
place of birth Newcastle upon Tyne ,  England
size 175 cm
position midfield
Juniors
Years station
1978-1980 Everton FC
Men's
Years station Games (goals) 1
1980-1986 Everton FC 109 (16)
1986-1987 Watford FC 39 0(2)
1987-1990 Arsenal FC 96 0(5)
1990-1991 Real Sociedad San Sebastian 37 0(0)
1991-1995 Aston Villa 143 (13)
1995-1997 Coventry City 78 0(0)
1997-1998 Southampton FC 28 0(0)
1998-2000 Barnsley FC 30 0(0)
2000 →  Blackpool FC  (loan) 20 0(1)
National team
Years selection Games (goals)
1992 England 1 0(0)
1 Only league games are given.

Kevin Richardson (born December 4, 1962 in Newcastle upon Tyne ) is a retired English football player . In the mid-1980s, the midfielder won the FA Cup , the English championship and the European Cup Winners' Cup with Everton FC , before he was also successful at his later club stations for Arsenal FC ( 1989 champions ) and Aston Villa (1994 league cup winners ) was active. At the same time, he was often in the shadow of more prominent midfielders, but was a valuable part of his respective team, especially with his tackling strength and as a corner kick and free kick taker.

Athletic career

Everton FC (1980–1986)

In July 1978, Richardson, from Newcastle, England, began his footballing career in the youth department of Everton FC and shortly after his 18th birthday, he signed his first professional contract with the "Toffees" in December 1980. After his league debut in the 1: 2 home defeat on November 21, 1981 against AFC Sunderland , he was a fixture in defensive midfield for the first time after the turn of the year 1981/82. Almost two years later he was in the final team of Everton FC in both the League Cup and the FA Cup and while he was defeated by Liverpool FC after two games including a replay in the League Cup , he won 2-0 in the FA Cup final against the Watford FC won their first title. Normally, however, he did not get beyond the status of a supplementary player and so he was mostly only left with the role on the left as an occasional replacement for Kevin Sheedy due to the midfield center dominated by Paul Bracewell and Peter Reid . When Everton won the English championship in 1985, Richardson contributed at least 14 league appearances, which was enough to receive an official medal. In addition, he won the European Cup Winners' Cup with the team in the same year and although he was not involved in the 3-1 final win against Rapid Wien , he was used more often in the previous rounds - his contribution to 3: 1 success in the semi-final second leg against FC Bayern Munich . More than a year later, he finally moved in September 1986 to the first division rivals Watford FC.

Via Watford to Arsenal FC (1986–1990)

In Watford Richardson was finally a regular player who knew how to convince with constant performances. One of them took place in the sixth main round of the FA Cup, in which he was so successful in a 3-1 win against Arsenal that his opponent signed him the following summer of 1987. With the "Gunners" he was with his strength and stamina in a fight right away a preferred central midfielder by coach George Graham , who also represented Graham Rix on the left side if necessary . He was part of the team that broke their own club record with 14 consecutive wins and in the 1988/89 season he won his second English championship . He contributed to the success of 34 appearances and the only goal of the season he succeeded in January 1989 against the ex-club from Everton. Even in the historic 2-0 win against Liverpool, which brought in the championship title at the last second, he had stood on the field and won the ball from John Barnes before the last attack . Also in the first 31 championship matches of the 1989/90 season Richardson was in the starting line-up before this series was interrupted by an injury. Since then Paul Davis returned to the team and with the talented David Hillier new competition arose in midfield, the club management of FC Arsenal Richardson let him move to the Spanish first division club Real Sociedad San Sebastián in June 1990 .

Via San Sebastián to Aston Villa (1990–1995)

Richardson stayed in the Basque Country for just over a year, where with John Aldridge and Dalian Atkinson two other legionaries were active “from the island”. Ironically, when John Toshack was signed in 1991, it was also a Welsh coach who advocated a return to local players, so Richardson, like Atkinson, hired Aston Villa in August 1991 . There Richardson immediately developed into a "long-runner" and he was on the field in all 51 competitive games over the entire duration of the game. When the Premier League went into its first season in 1992/93 , parts of the English media speculated about Richardson as a possible first player to win the English championship with three different clubs and with the runner-up he narrowly missed the personal "triple". Instead, he completed his trophy collection with the League Cup the following year when he captained the Villans in the final and defeated Manchester United 3-1 - after which he even became the “Man of the Match” at Wembley Stadium elected. He returned to the same place almost two months later when he played his only senior international match for the English national team against Greece (5-0) . In the second competitive game under the new coach Terry Venables , he formed the midfield of the "Three Lions" with Darren Anderton , David Platt , Paul Merson and later Matthew Le Tissier , but despite the clear victory, another calling remained for the 31-year-old debutant afterwards. In the 1994/95 season, Richardson's shares also fell at Aston Villa, which was suddenly in a relegation battle. Then when Brian Little replaced the former coach Ron Atkinson , the henceforth "sorted out" followed his mentor Atkinson in February 1995 to the first division competitor and club Coventry City, which was also fighting for relegation .

Last career stations and change to coaching (from 1995)

With 14 league appearances in Coventry, Richardson made a not insignificant contribution to the achievement of the declared goal and although he had lost his speed in the advanced footballer's age, he remained an important key player in the team as a ball conqueror, passer and team-serving "worker bee" in the 1995 season / 96 once again narrowly escaped relegation to the second division. During the 1996/97 season, Richardson was suddenly sorted out after a surprising cup defeat against Gillingham FC , but after a few games in the reserve team he returned before the end of the year and was partly responsible for the intermittent form high in December 1996, which laid the foundation for the again very much close relegation put. Richardson was again condemned to watch more often at the end of the season, but continued to contribute to the team's success when he was substituted for Southampton FC and Arsenal at crucial points in time. At the beginning of the 1997/98 season, Richardson played on a weekly contract basis, representing the injured Gary McAllister and thus recommended for another move to a first division club.

In September 1997 he joined Southampton FC as a replacement for Jim Magilton who had migrated and with Carlton Palmer he formed the new midfield headquarters of the "Saints", who slowly said goodbye to the endangered relegation zone in the direction of secured midfield. As of July 1998, the next employer was the second division FC Barnsley . There Richardson immediately took over the captaincy and despite a knee injury that put him out of action for a few months from September, he pulled the strings in midfield in 33 competitive games at the new club. At the beginning of the 1999/2000 season, the new coach Dave Bassett sorted him out of the team. He finally moved to the third division for Blackpool FC on loan in January 2000 . There he completed 20 championship games and had to experience relegation for the first time in his professional career. He then ended his 20-year active career.

Immediately after retirement, Richardson took on his first coaching role in the youth division of Sunderland AFC , before becoming assistant to Carlton Palmer at Stockport County in 2001 . In October 2004 Mick McCarthy brought him back to Sunderland and there he worked for the reserve team until November 2007 and later as a kotrainer for the first team. At the end of the 2005/06 season he also took over the interim head coach role for the club together with Kevin Ball . In October 2009, he joined Darlington FC as a new assistant at Steve Staunton's side .

Title / Awards

literature

  • Rob Bishop / Frank Holt: Aston Villa - The Complete Record . DB Publishing, Derby, 2010, ISBN 978-1-85983-805-1 , pp. 263-264 .
  • Hugman, Barry J .: Premier League: The Players - A Complete Guide to Every Player 1992-93 . Tony Williams Publishing, 1992, ISBN 1-869833-15-5 , pp. 243-244 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ "Kevin Richardson: England 1994" (Sporting Heroes)
  2. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 1995-96 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 1995, ISBN 0-09-180854-5 , pp. 177 .
  3. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 1996-97 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 1996, ISBN 1-85291-571-4 , pp. 205 f .
  4. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 1997-98 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 1997, ISBN 1-85291-581-1 , pp. 227 .
  5. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 1998-99 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 1998, ISBN 1-85291-588-9 , pp. 252 .
  6. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 1999-2000 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 1999, ISBN 1-85291-607-9 , pp. 252 f .
  7. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 2000-2001 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 2000, ISBN 1-85291-626-5 , pp. 270 f .
  8. ↑ "Black Cats offload Richardson" (Sunderland Echo)
  9. ^ "Darlington appoint Staunton as manager" (The Northern Echo)
personal data
SURNAME Richardson, Kevin
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English soccer player
DATE OF BIRTH 4th December 1962
PLACE OF BIRTH Newcastle upon Tyne , England